Electromagnet



June 1936- F. J. REDMOND ET AL I 2,

ELECTROMAGNET' Filed March 15, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet -l 60 FIG. 2 57 23 FJ. REDMO/VD ATTORNEY "WENTORS N. REVNOL 0s June 23, 1936. F. J. REDMOND AL 2,045,409

ELECTROMAGNET INVE/VZ' I J. REDMOND 5 J. N. REYNOLDS BY ATTORNEY June 23, 1936;

F. J. REDMOND ET AL ELECTROMAGNET Z; Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 15, 1935 ATTORNEY I l l Bay 9 m. REDMOND S: J. /v. REYNOLDS 2 0 Q. M W

Patented June 23, 1936 UNETED STATE-S PATENT OFFICE 2,045,409 ELECTROMAGNET Fredeiic I. Redmond, Arlington, N. 3,, and John N; Reynolds, NewY'oik, N. Y., .assignors to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y.-, a corporation of New York Application March 1'5; 1935', Serial No. 11,200 12 Claims. (oi; 194-1 This invention relates to electromagnet's' particularly for telephone coin collectors, I

An object of the invention is to improve the efliciency of electromagnets and simplify their construction in securing a selective operation of their armatures depending upon the direction of current flow supplied thereto. I

The electromagnet of this invention is of particular value in the operation of telephone coin collectors wherein the subscriber tentativelydeposits a coin which is subsequently collected or refunded by the central office operator depending upon whether or not the desired telephone connection is obtained. Thus, in the type of telephone coin collector disclosed in O; F. Fors-v berg U. S. Patent 1,043,219, issued November 191-2 the coin deposited by the subscriber is temporarily held upon a coin trap which is supported by a pivoted-vane under the control of an electromagnet. If the pivoted vane is moved by the electromagnet in one direction the deposited" coin is collected, while if it is moved in the opposite direction the coin is refunded and the direction this vane is moved depends'upon which direction thecurrent is made to flow through the" rection of current flow through the coil. selective movement is utilized to determine whether the pivoted coin vane will be'deflected clockwise or counterclockwise by the actuation of the other armature which isnot' permanently magnetized and which is always moved in the same direction when the coil is fsupplied withenergizing current. One wayth'is'may be accomplishedis to have on the shaft of the pivoted coin vane two projections which are laterally spaced along the shaft and also angularly spaced With respect to each other. The non-permanentlyma'gnetized armature of the electromagnet carries a pivoted arm which can be'actuated by the permanently magnetized member to direct the pivoted arm either towards the first or the second of the projections on the coin'vane shaft. When the direction of the non-permaner'i'tly magnetized armature causes this arm to contact with the first pin on the coin Vane shaft 2. counter-clockwise rotation of pivoted arm contacts with the second" pro ec ing pin on thecoinvane shaft. Hencethe lection or refunding of the deposited coin v be secured by a single, coil electromagnet iii which the'select'ive operation is produced by' uti= li'zi'n'ga permanently magnetized armature. E This invention will be better unde stood reference to the following detailed descri'pti'oii taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which; s v a s s g ig.4 is a vow in elevation of cune form of in f invention ada ted to Cofitrol' chin" means in a telephonepa'y'station' coin chute or other coin collection apparatus;

Fig. 2 is an end'v'iew and Fig. 3 iso; of the apparatus of Fig.1; 7 1

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views, scale enlarged, of the coin diverting mechanism of Fig. 1'; and Figs: 6 and? disclose'different views of an a1- te'rhative form of the invention with the cleft top' view Figs. 8 and 9fc'orrespor'id' respectively to Figs; 6 and"? except that the armatures of the electric magnet are in'thir attracted'positions; ahd Fig. 10 is'a detailshowing of one of the elements of Figgfi. g

The aboveimentioned drawings do not disclose a complete telephone @011 collector but the'gerli eral'construction of one form of such a collector withiwhi l'ithijs invention may be employed niay' be asc'ertaine'd' by reference to the abovenieriti0I'l e d"FOI"Sbi"g U. S. P at'iit 1',043,219. As disclosed in the Forsberg patent a person wishing to use a'telephone'coin collector inserts a coinin" a} coin gauge anathe' deposited coin after traversing a coin chute for testifig" its" genuineness'and for signaling its deposit to thei central ofiice, drops" into a coin hopper such as: hopper l5-0f Fig. 1 wherethe coin strikes' a coin trigger I6 and comes to rest on a coin trapf l'l extefiding acros's the coinpassagewajf. The trap I1 which isshown pivotedat the point'l'flis' nor-' mally'suiiported byai rollermen a verticalvane 2i] pivoted at' its lower end. The coin passage below tr'ap I'lis divided into'twochannels, arefund-chute 2| leadin'gto'ar'i opening'where coins" are accessible from outside the collector nous: ing, and a collect chute 22 leading to a cash compartment-within" the housing. As explained in the Forsberg patent if the vertical vane 20 55 is moved to close the collect passageway 22, the dropping of trap I? will allow the deposited coin to fall in the refund chute 25 while if the vane 28 is moved to close refund chute 2! the drop- 5 ping of trap I"! will allow the deposited coin to be diverted into the chute 22 leading to the cash compartment. The apparatus so far described is similar to that disclosed in the Forsberg patent.

This invention in the embodiment shown in the drawings is concerned with the provision of im: proved means whereby the operation of the vane 26 may be remotely controlled to collect or refund a deposited coin depending upon whether or not the telephone connection desired by the coin depositor is secured.

Suitably mounted adjacent the coin hop-per I5 is an electromagnet comprising a single coil 25 surrounding a core of. soft iron or other suitable magnetic material. A U-shaped strip 26 of magnetic material surrounding the bottom and two sides of the coil completes the magnetic circuit except for the pivoted armature 2'! mounted above the poleface Z8 and above the upper ends 25 of the U-shaped strip 25. Armature Ell has two downwardly turned projections 29 and Bil resting upon the corner edges of the ends 3!, S2 of magnetic strip 25 to form a pivoting axis for the armature. The armature also has a downwardly 30 projecting arm 33 the lower end of which is enlarged and provided with a slot 3%. Horizontally projecting ears 35, 3'6 at either end of the slot serve to pivotally support the wedge-shaped member 37 which has a horizontally disposed arm 38 extending through the slot for a substantial dis- -tance. The upper and main portion of the armature 21 is, of course, of magnetic material bu not permanently magnetized.

The electromagnet 25 has an auxiliary arma- 40 ture comprising a permanent magnet ii of the "horseshoe type having one arm 39 between pole 3|, and central pole 28 and its other arm to between arm 32 and the central pole. This permanent magnet li forms one arm of a U-shaped 5 member 44 the other arm 45 of which is located underneath coil 25 terminating in a fork 46 embracing arm 38. The U-shaped member 44 is pivotally supported for rotative movement about two pins ll, 48, as an axis. Spring 49 serves to 50 normally bias the permanent magnet so that each arm thereof lies centrally between the center pole 28 and one side pole face 3! or 32. This permanent magnet i! is free to move between these pole pieces without frictional contact with armature 21 or other parts of the electromagnet, pole pieces 28; 3|, 32 being of sufficient height above the end of the coil 25 to provide this freedom of movement.

In the absence of current in coil 25, armature 6O 21 isbiased by a suitable spring means 66 acting I between the framework 5% and extension 23 of armature Zl and against stop 6! so that the lower end of its arm 33 is relatively close to coil 25 while permanent magnet t! with its extension i5 is in a central position about pole 23 due to spring 19. If we now assume that direct current of one polarity is applied to coil 25 permanent magnet 4| will be moved, say, clockwise, which will cause fork 46 to move wedge 3'! to a counter-clockwise position and armature 2'! will carry wedge tl forwardly away from coil 25; and the application of direct current of the opposite polarity to coil 25 will cause permanent magnet t! to be moved 31 to a clockwise position and armature 2'! will carry wedge 31 forwardly.

This, therefore, means that the angular position of the front face of wedge 31 with respect to its axis depends upon the direction of current 5 flow through coil 25 and it now remains to be described how this difference in the angular position of wedge 31 in its forward movement may be utilized to selectively move vane 20 for either refunding or collecting deposited coins. 10

The shaft to which the vane 20 is fastened for rotative movement; has an extension 5| projecting externally of the coin hopper in substantially the same horizontal plane as the central portion of Wedge 31. Projecting from shaft 5! are two 15 laterally and angularly spaced pins 52, 53 having rounded heads 54, 55 acting as cam surfaces for cam 31. These pins are spaced along shaft 55 in such a manner that in the absence of permanent magnet M the cam 31 when electromagnet 25 is 0 energized would pass between heads 54, 55 towards shaft 5| without contacting therewith. The actual operation, however, is quite different due to the control exerted by permanent magnet 4! on the angular position of cam 31 as previously 25 described. For one polarity of applied current permanent magnet ll will be rotated clockwise to move cam 3! counter-clockwise so that when the cam 31 is brought forwardly by armature 21 its lower inclined face 56 will contact with head 55 30 and cause shaft 5! to be rotated clockwise causing vane 2B to close chute 22 and allow any coins on trap ll to fall into refund chute 28. For a current of the opposite polarity traversing coil 25, permanent magnet 41 will be rotated counter- 35 clockwise to move cam 3'! clockwise so that when cam 31 is brought forwardly by armature 2'! its upper inclined face 57 will contact with head 54 and cause shaft 5! to be rotated counter-clockwise to close refund chute 2! and allow any coins 40 on trap I! to fall into collect chute 22. When cam 31 is retracted by the absence of energizing current in winding 25, the vane 20 is restored to its normal vertical position due to a suitable biasing spring 58. desired manner to the position shown in Fig. 1 which is its position in the absence of energizing current in coil. 25. Thus, a spring 80 may hold armature 2? against stop 55 in the absence of energizing current. Also the armature 27 may be 50 held about its pivoting point in any suitable manner. For example, a square-shaped rod 62 may extend between projections 29 and 30 and a double leaf spring 15 may press against the two exposed sections of rod 62 to give the armature 21 55 a fixed pivot. This spring 16 is shown in Figs. 2 and 3 but has been omitted from Fig. l for sake of clearness.

The manner in which the electromagnet 25may be placed under the control of the central office 6Q operator will now be described. Trigger l6 having an arm projecting in the coin chute above coin trap I! may be utilized for closing an electrical contact to establish a connection between the coil 25 and the control equipment at the cen- 65 tral office. Trigger I6 by projecting through a slot in a contracted'portion of coin hopper I5 is adapted to be actuated by any deposited coin. This trigger i6 is pivoted at the point 59 to an upright extension of a frame 83. An angular 7O switch actuating lever 64 pivoted along axis 65 to upright extension 65, El of the frame has a downwardly extending arm 68 maintained under tension by spring 69, said spring tending to cause arm 68 to close contact springs 70, H which Armature 2i may be biased in any 45 springs are normally separated to maintain the line circuit open. Biasing spring 69, however, is normally unable to close contact springs 19, 1| since another arm 12 of lever 64 extending forwardly of the pivoting axis 55 is latched by the shoulder 13 on trigger It. When a coin strikes trigger l6 spring 69 is permitted to act on arm 68 and close contact springs 19, 1| since the resulting downward movement of trigger it will allow-arm 12 to drop off shoulder 13.

In order that contacts 19, 1| will remain closed while relay 25 is energized an angular lever 14 pivoted to the framework at the point 42 has an upwardly extending arm 43 for actuation by extension 23 of armature 21 and at its other end carries an insulating roller 59 normally resting in a recess in spring 10 and biased to that position by spring 24. Upon the energization of relay 25, extension 23 moves lever 14 clockwise to cause roller 50 to ride out of said recess in spring 18 and, acting on arm 88, elevates the end 12 to allow trigger It to recover its normal horizontal position while still maintainingpressure on spring contacts 10, 11 to keep them closed. Upon the 1 deenergization of magnet 25, spring 24 will restore "similar to the coin trigger of the above mentioned Forsberg patent to which reference is made for further details of its construction and operation.

The circuit connections by means of which electromagnet 25 may be placed under control of the central ofiice operator when contact springs 10, 11 are closed are well-known in the art and require no detail description of this application. A schematic showing of these connections has been made in Fig. 1 where one end of the winding of relay 25 is shown grounded at the point 15 and the other end of the winding is connected to spring 18. The other spring 1| is shown connected to a switch 11 which may be employed to connect positive or negative battery to the relay winding.

The above description applies to Figs. 1, 2 and. 3 without further explanation. Fig. 4 shows cam 31 in its extreme actuated position where its upper face '51 has contacted with head 54 to drive vane 29 clockwise to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The coin trap 11 has, therefore, dropped to discharge its coins into collect chute 22. A similar view is shown in Fig. 5 where cam 31 is in its extreme actuated position but where its lower face 56 has contacted with head 58 to drive vane 29 clockwise to drop coin trap l1 and discharge the coin into refund chute 21. By comparing Figs. 3 and 4 with Fig. 1 it will be noted that extension 38 of cam 31 is free to slide back and forth in fork 45. When the electromagnet has been energized to cause cam 31 to assume its position in Fig. 3 or Fig. 4 the subse quent deenergization of magnet 25 will, of course,

allow cam 31 to assume its normal position of Fig. 1 due to the restoring force supplied by biasing spring 49.

In the operation of the above described aping the path of travel of permanent magnet 41 shorter than the path of travel of main armature 21 and by making armature 21 the heavier armature so that there is greater inertia to overcome in its movement.

Figs. 6 to 10 disclose a modification of the apparatus of Fig. 1 for producing the desired selective control of a coin deflecting vane 88, it being assumed that vane 88 is located in a coin hopper similar to that of Fig. 1 and forming a part of the coin collector of the type generally disclosed in the above mentioned Forsberg patent. The electromagnet 8| is of the single coil type as in Fig. 1 with a magnetic circuit of substantially the same construction. Its armature 82 is pivoted about the point 83 in the same manner as armature 21 of Fig. 1. Armature 82 has an offset extension 84 to which a downwardly extending arm 85 is pivoted about two axes 86 and 81 at right angles to each other to permit arm 85 to have a to-and-fro motion as well as a sideway movement. The electromagnet 81 also has an armature comprising a permanent magnet 88 having an angular extension 89 pivoted between supports 98, 91 and terminating at its lower end in a fork 9-2 embracing the vertical arm 85. When the permanent magnet 88 is moved due to the energization of coil 81, fork 92 will move arm 85 about its pivoting. axis 81 and. for this purpose the inner face of fork 92 which contacts with strip 85 maybe ball-shaped or otherwise rounded as shown in Fig. 10 to permit an angular displacement of fork 92 as strip'85 is moved in a plane at right angles to the plane of the drawings without causing any twisting of strip 85.

The lower end of arm 85 is of increased width and on its bottom edge has two spaced notches or slots 93, 99 which are employed in selectively actuating the vane 89. Shaft on which vane 88 is mounted bears two laterally and angularly spaced spokes 98, 91 with right angle studs 98, 99.

These studs are directed generally towards each other as shown in Fig. 7 but are sufficiently separated that the lower end of armature 85 when thrust downwardly by armature 84 in the absence of permanent magnet 88 would lie between the ends of the studs 98, 99 without contacting therewith, this alignment being shown in Fig. 7. The angular spacing of the stud 98, 99 about shaft 95 is such that stud 99 is aligned with but slightly below the upper end of slot 94 and stud 98 is aligned with but slightly below the upper end of slot 93 although neither stud is positioned in one of these slots when the electromagnet is deenergized. This normal condition of the studs 98, 99 is maintained by a biasing spring H99 exerting a pull on an offset portion of shaft 95.

If we now assume a direct current through coil 81 in one direction, permanent magnet 88 will be turned about its axis 99, 91, for example, to place slot 94 over stud 98 and the actuation of its nonpermanently magnetized armature 82 will thrust arm 85 downwardly, giving shaft 95 a clockwise movement as viewed in Fig. 6 and thereby giving vane 89 a corresponding movement. On the other hand if the current is applied in the opposite direction, permanent magnet 88 will be moved to place slot 93 over pin 99 and the actuation of armature 82 will thrust arm 85 downwardly, giving shaft 95 and vane 88 a counterclockwise motion. The arrangement of Figs. 6 and'Z, therefore, will permit electromagnet 8| to swing vane 89 clockwise or counter-clockwise depending upon the direction of the energizing current. Means for normally biasing the armature 84 in its upper position may be provided by a spring I l Arm 85 may be maintained in proper alignment for movement about axis 8'! by two leaf springs N12. The permanent magnet 88 is biased to give arm 85 its central position between studs 98, 99 by another leaf spring I03 pressing against projection H34.

Fig. 8 corresponds to Fig. 6, and Fig. 9 corresponds to Fig. '7 except that in Figs. 6 and 7 the relay is assumed to be in a deenergized condition while in Figs. 8 and 9 the electromagnet is energized. The current flow through electromagnet 8! in Figs. 8 and 9 is assumed to be in such a direction that permanent magnet 88 has been moved counter-clockwise to throw arm 85 immediately above pin $9 so that the downward movement of arm 85 produced by armature 82 results in contact with pin 99 and causes shaft 95 to be rotated tln'cugli a substantial angle suflicient to cause vane 88 to allow the associated coin trap to drop and to direct deposited coins into one of the chutes below the trap. Thus, by comparing Figs. 6 and 8 it is seen that pin 99 is in slot 93 and arm 85 is in its extreme lower position. It is obvious that if the current through the electromagnet is in the opposite direction the permanent magnet 88 would be swung clockwise so that arm 85 in its downward movement would contact with pin 98 and cause a clockwise movement of shaft 95 and the associated vane 80.

The coin trigger, the contact spring operating lever and associated parts, similar to trigger I6 and lever 64 of Fig. 1, have been omitted in Figs. 6 to 10 for sake of clearness but it will be apparent that the arrangement for controlling the spring contacts in the energizing circuit of relay 8| may correspond exactly to that shown in Fig. 1 for relay 25. Thus spring l9! may correspond to spring 68 of Fig. l and armature 82 may have an extension arm (not shown) similar to extension 23 Fig. 1 for controlling the contact springs and a switch actuating lever similar to lever 64.

The embodiments of the invention described above are considered to be typical of this invention but other embodiments are in contemplation as Will be apparent from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A coin operated machine comprising an electromagnet having an armature comprising a permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about one axis and having a second armature comprising a non-permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about a different axis and coin diverting means jointly controlled by said members.

2. In combination, an electromagnet having an armature comprising a permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about one axis and having a second armature comprising a nonpermanently magnetized member mounted for movement about a diiferent axis and means simultaneously actuated by said members.

3. In combination an electromagnet having an armature comprising a permanently magnetized member and having a second armature comprising a non-permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about different axes and a. pivoted device subjected to a clockwise movement by said armatures when direct current is applied to said electromagnet in one direction and subjected to a counter-clockwise movement by said armatures when direct current is applied to said electromagnet in the opposite direction.

4. A telephone coin collector comprising an electromagnet having an armature comprising a permanently magnetized member and having a second armature comprising a non-permanentlymagnetized member mounted for movement about different axes, coin actuated means for establishing an energizing circuit for said electromagnet, means for receiving a deposited coin, a pivoted vane for diverting said coin and means jointly operated by said members for actuating said vane.

5. A telephone coin collector comprising an electromagnet having an armature comprising a permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about one axis and having a second armature comprising a non-permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about a different axis, a. coin hopper, a coin deflecting vane in said hopper, an extension arm on said vane projecting externally of said hopper and means controlled by both of said members for moving said arm when said electromagnet is supplied with energizing current.

6. A telephone coin collector comprising an electromagnet having a permanently magnetized armature mounted for movement about one axis, and a non-permanently magnetized armature mounted for movement about an axis substantially at right angles to said first axis, a coin hopper for receiving a deposited coin, a pivoted vane in said hopper for guiding deposited coins, an extension arm on said vane projecting externally of said hopper, a plurality of angularly spaced projections on said arm and cam means operated jointly by said armatures for contacting with one of said projections when energizing current traverses said electromagnet in one direction and for contacting with another of said projections when energizing current traverses said electromagnet in the opposite direction.

'7. A telephone coin collector comprising an electromagnet having an armature comprising a permanently magnetized member and having a second armature comprising a non-permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about different axes, coin actuated means for establishing an energizing circuit for said electromagnet, means for receiving a deposited coin and a pivoted support for said means controlled jointly by said members.

8. A telephone coin collector comprising an electromagnet having an armature comprising a permanently magnetized member and having a second armature comprising a non-permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about different axes, coin actuated means for establishing an energizing circuit for said electromagnet, a coin hopper having means for receiving a deposited coin, a pivoted Vane for supporting said means, a shaft projecting externally of said hopper and secured to said vane in alignment with its pivot, a plurality of spaced pins projecting substantially at right angles tosaid shaft, said p'ins being angularly spaced from each other around said shaft, cam means, means controlled ated means for closing said terminals, means controlled by said second member for subsequently opening said terminals and coin controlling means controlled jointly by said members.

10. A telephone coin collector comprising a single coil electromagnet having a permanently magnetized armature pivoted for limited rotative movement, a coin hopper having coin controlling means therein and means controlled by said armature for actuating said coin controlling means.

11. A telephone coin collector comprising an electromagnet having a permanently magnetized armature pivoted for limited rotative movement, a non-permanently magnetized second armature, a coin hopper for receiving a deposited coin, a refund chute, a collect chute, means for directing a coin deposited in said hopper into one of said chutes and means jointly controlled by said armatures for actuating said directing means.

12. In a telephone coin collector, a single coil electromagnet, an armature for said electromagnet comprising a permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about one axis, a second armature for said electromagnet comprising a non-permanently magnetized member mounted for movement about an axis substantially at right angles to the first axis and coin controlling means jointly controlled by said members.

FREDERIC J. REDMOND. JOHN N. REYNOLDS. 

